This application relates generally to a method and system for advertising vehicle information for a plurality of nearby vehicles over a wireless signal.
Since at least 1996, every light duty passenger vehicle sold in the United States has had a computer diagnostic data connection port, such as an OBD1, OBD2, or SAE-J1962 port. This data port permits a mechanic or other user to connect to the vehicle and retrieve vehicle diagnostic and identification data, that is, data about the vehicle, including Vehicle Identification Number (“VIN”), engine, fuel system, brake system, door locks, climate control systems, and other data. Scan tools have been developed to permit mechanics and repair technicians to connect to the vehicle and monitor sensor data in real time as well as read and clear trouble codes and reset engine operating data and learned values.
Many wireless communications mediums exist, such as 802.11 WiFi, Bluetooth, or some other wireless communications protocol or system. Often these wireless communications protocols require that, to communicate with other devices using that protocol, a user must first fully connect to that wireless system. This process can involve steps like joining the network or pairing with other wireless devices. This is usually a manual process requiring end-user assistance. Often times the end-user may be required to enter a password or pairing code or some other security key code.
Most wireless communications systems where multiple separate systems can coexist near each other have some sort of identification system, or name, whereby a user chooses the wireless system, by name. For example, a Bluetooth device may broadcast a device name, or an 802.11 WiFi network may broadcast a network name, also known as a SSID, etc. In these wireless systems, having a name collision (that is, two or more separate wireless systems utilizing the exact same name) can result in the inability to communicate on those wireless systems and/or cause confusion about which system the user is actually using.
Many vehicle diagnostic data adapters, or OBD adapters, currently exist that permit connecting to the vehicle diagnostic data port over a wireless communications medium, such as an 802.11 WiFi, Bluetooth, or other wireless communications protocol or system. In an effort to solve the name collision problem, these adapter vendors have typically given their adapters a wireless name that is unique to their company. Some vendors have gone even farther by incorporating an adapter-specific piece of information into the name, such as the serial number of the adapter or some part of the wireless MAC address.
Many existing software applications, or apps, are able to communicate with vehicles in a bidirectional manner over wireless communications mediums on computing devices such as desktops, laptops, smartphones, tablets, and other user computing devices by connecting to these diagnostic data adapters. On some computing devices, such as Apple iOS devices, the platform vendor may lock down or restrict the capabilities of software applications running on those platforms such that the end-user is required to manually connect that computing device to each wireless system. On these platforms, the software application is unable to automate the process for the end-user. If a software application wanted vehicle information from a nearby vehicle, the software application would need to read this information from that vehicle by connecting to the wireless communications system in use by the vehicle (or more specifically the vehicle OBD adapter) and communicating the relevant information. In situations where the software application wanted to get a list of vehicle identification information for multiple nearby vehicles, such as when a user is walking in a dealer or vehicle fleet parking lot, this could involve numerous end-user interactions to manually connect the computing device to each separate wireless vehicle system. This might render such communications so tedious and time-consuming as to perhaps be too inconvenient for practical purposes. Therefore, having a method to obtain vehicle information from multiple vehicles without having to first establish a connection to each wireless vehicle system would be useful.